AU PS3 First Impressions

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We came, We saw, We chewed the fat.

By Bennett Ring

Cam: Compadres! It's been a busy couple of days here at IGN AU HQ, full of blood, sweat, tears, and&#Array; no other bodily fluids. We've clocked some serious hours in our test room, digesting PS3 launch title after PS3 launch title, the only light cast upon our pasty faces the pale glow from an HDTV, the only warmth found through 'just friends spooning' the PS3. Was it worth it? You bet, but as most of you already know, the Aussie PS3 launch line-up is the very definition of a mixed bag. First things first - the highlights. What stood out most for you guys?

Bennett: I'd spent a little more time with the debug than you guys, hogging it to myself over the weekend. I've gotta say that I was quite surprised by how much fun I had. Let's face it - the PS3 has been slammed like an anorexic sumo wrestler by the international press. Based on this, my expectations were low. So I was pretty happy to see that both Resistance and MotorStorm were top quality games. But it turns out that I'd gone straight for the chocolate tip of the PS3 Drumstick cone. Things weren't quite so rosy at the top end of the ice cream, which is constituted largely of 360 ports.

Resistance - the game all of the IGN AU crew agreed on. How could we not love a game with a bubble gun?

Patch: It's big, it's shiny and it gets very, very hot. Like 'boil-a-pot-of-soup' or 'cook-a-steak' hot. As a relatively inexpensive Blu-ray player, I give it a full and resounding round of applause. It plays them beautifully and the films look great in HD. However, I am going to call a spade a spade with the launch games line-up. The quality ranges from fairly dismal, Genji, through to undeniably fun, MotorStorm, with a lot that falls into the fiery chasm of 'reasonable-for-a-launch-title'. Is this acceptable? For a games machine? Well, the Xbox 360 took a while to grow into itself too, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Cam: Way to partially answer the question guys. For me the top launch titles are threefold: Resistance, Virtua Fighter 5 and Fight Night Round 3. Resistance demonstrates Insomniac's versatility as a studio, packing a great set of weapons and bringing an excellent sense of scale to the console FPS, both through the number of enemies it can handle on-screen, as well as through 40 player online multiplayer. Don't get me wrong - it's not an innovative game, but it's worth playing nonetheless.

Virtua Fighter 5 just reminded me how brilliant this series is all over again. Sure, the visuals are nowhere near the level of a game like DOA4, but the gameplay is as tight as ever. Plus, the game handed me my ass on a platter repeatedly, so as a lapsed VF player I've got a long road ahead to get good at this one. Fight Night Round 3, on the other hand, balances great boxing mechanics with sheer visceral impact, but you know that already. Is it better on PS3 than it was on 360? Debatable - the first person mode is an interesting addition, and the sweat is certainly more realistic, but at the end of the day the differences are pretty minimal.

Motorstorm's lovely visuals hint at what the PS3 can do with copious amounts of TLC.

Bennett: Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who appreciates Resistance. Its understated, realistic art direction is probably a little too subtle for some of the more ADHD gamers out there, so it'd be a shame if it was neglected. I notice you forgot to mention Virtua Tennis 3 in that list. After ploughing through a handful of underwhelming, chugging ports, the 1080p, silky smooth gameplay of VT3 scored an ace in my books - even if you did kick my ass with a wax-dummy version of Federer (quit it with the shiny skin, PS3 devs). I'm a lover not a fighter, so VF5 just didn't do it for me at all; it's a game that's all about the mechanics, and I'm too impatient to learn them.

Patch: I have to agree with Bennett on Virtua Tennis 3. It's not going to set the world on fire or anything, but at least it played well and any screw-ups could be attributed to my incoordination, rather than any fault in the game design - as much as I could tell in the relatively brief time I spent with it. Resistance, on the other hand, is special too. It doesn't have the greatest opening levels - in fact, they're a bit bland - but it soon takes off in a big way and the multiplayer is great fun. 40 players? I'd buy that for a dollar.

Virtua Fighter 5 - not my cup of tea - but a fighting game hasn't really held my interest since Tekken Tag Tournament. I just don't think the genre is doing much with itself, apart from treading water. Is it wrong to think that a very low-key release, flOw, actually shines a lot brighter than just about all of these multi-million dollar budget games? It is simple and pretty and feels a lot like a Wii or DS title, and it calls the PS3 home. Ah, screw it - can I call this the title of the launch? Yes. Yes I can.

Cam: Sure, you can (I can use italics too!), but I'm not convinced you'd be right. In terms of value for money, maybe, but I don't see myself playing flOw for days on end. Coming back to Virtua Tennis 3, it's a great game, but I don't think it's a highlight of the launch list, more a solid, dependable game. The other title conspicuous by its absence from my list is MotorStorm. It's really good, no question, but I'm still not 100% sold on it. For every thrilling race and for every 'water cooler moment' - such as driving a truck off a ledge and straight onto an unsuspecting biker, or deliberately blowing up your engine just ahead of the finish line to catapult yourself into first, I've had just as many experiences that are disappointingly pedestrian.

The sense of speed is the biggest thing missing for me - you build up a decent clip in the smaller vehicles (and the ATV in particular, is brilliant fun), but it's achingly slow in the bigger rigs. Still, thumbs up to Evolution Studios for including 'Mud Pluggers' in the game - I laugh every time I read that name. No idea why. Immaturity perhaps?